Jennie Garth on Divorce From Peter Facinelli: "It Happens to the Best of Us"

Jennie Garth is going through a rough patch these days now that she and hubby Peter Facinelli announced plans to divorce last month after 11 years of marriage.

But she's doing her best to remain philosophical about the whole thing.

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday night, the Little Bit Country star opened up about life after the breakup, her 40th birthday, and how refreshing leaving Los Angeles for more wide open spaces has been for her and her family.

The thesp also made light of turning the big 4-0 when the late night gabber wished her a happy birthday and showed a picture of her celebrating with some elderly members of a Friendship House senior community (her "homies," she calls them) in California's Santa Ynez Valley where she lives.

"I just turned 24," she quipped after asking Leno's other guest that evening, Zac Efron, his age.

Garth, who stopped by to promote her new reality series on CMT, Jennie Garth: A Little Bit Country, also discussed her current zip code and living on a ranch.

"I always wanted to get the hell out of L.A. and I wanted to experience a different life," she said. "I've been in L.A. working since I was 14 and 15, and I just needed fresh air. So…I moved my girls to the country and put them in public school."

While Jennie gets used to being a single mom, she's had a strong show of solidarity from her old 90210 costar Shannen Doherty, who has also been making the publicity rounds plugging her own reality show, Shannen Says.

"I think that for somebody like Jennie who values family so much, this is incredibly hard for her," Doherty told People Thursday. "I feel for her and, more importantly, I feel for her kids."